This summit was activated by myself, accompanied by Jimmy and Liam on Sunday 12th September 2004.   

From the Plain Quarry car park (where we had parked for our activation of Hutton Roof Crags G/LD-052), we drove back to Burton-in-Kendal, and this time right up the A6070 to cross the M6 at J36 and continue on the A591. We then went left onto the A590 Barrow and Ulverston road past Levens before turning right into the narrow lanes through Mill Side and up to Witherslack Hall School at SD 436 859. Here there was parking for several cars on the roadside, and as we soon discovered, room for more down the track at the start of the public footpath, where a notice proclaims "You are welcome to park here if there is room...". We followed this track which then became a path through a field, and then left (following the yellow arrow) over a stile and round the back of the school football pitch.

       

The path then swings right and up a fairly steep section to strike for the higher ground on the Scar. Looking at the Scar on approach, its sides looked impossibly steep, and we wondered just what kind of path could get up there. It was a steep but short haul, with only a couple of very mild scrambly bits, but there were a couple of high vertical edges very close to the left-hand edge of the path. My legs went very wobbly as I tried to ensure Liam's safety on these sections, with Jimmy stretching out his lead in the far distance! We were soon up onto less stressful terrain, but I made a mental note to descend a different way!  The summit, actually named "Lord's Seat" - Whitbarrow is the name of the full scar length - was then soon reached.

By now, it was raining pretty hard, but we had donned the recently reproofed waterproofs upon receiving the initial few drops near the escarpment edge, so at least we were dry.   The wind was now incredibly fierce, and we considered the possibility that Hurricane Ivan had diverted from its intended course. The wind was south-westerly, which in turn insisted that the SOTA Beam pointed north-easterly despite my efforts to the contrary. NE is NOT a favourable beam heading from a low summit in the the southern Lakes (unless WGV happens to be about), so I turned to the specialist piece of amateur radio equipment I always carry for such a purpose - the JIMMY. Liam and I settled back cosily into the basic wall/shelter that backed into the wind, while the JIMMY customable mast was employed in full exposure to the wind and rain!

       

He followed my directions to the letter, and soon we had the four contacts, but you can imagine the look on his face when I then heard Ian G7ADF/P on Easington Fell G/SP-012 and wanted a fifth contact for a summit-to-summit!

Following a recommendation from Myke G6DDQ, I ordered some "Rite In The Rain" waterproof notepads and pen from a company called "In The Field". They arrived this week, and hence went into the mapcase (which is where I carry my logbook on activations). Sure enough, the very first time I had them with me, they were necessary, and this had a eerie similarity to needing to use our headtorches the very first time we carried them, on Robinson G/LD-021 back in November 2003. After all the difficulty I have had with logging in the rain, and the various (failed) methods I have devised, I was impressed with just how easy it was with this new kit.  While £20 might initially seem a bit steep for three notepads and a pen, thinking of it as a specific piece of outdoor equipment that would last me for scores of wet activations, it becomes a price worth paying. The OHP markers and INK-style photo album logbook are in the bin, and I will be buying more of the waterproof pens and pads when they run out.

From the summit, we headed NNE on the path thinking that there may well be an opportunity to short cut along the wall between SD 442 874 and SD 441 879. There was indeed, and in fact it was acknowledged on the Nature Reserve information board as a permitted path. We then turned left on the PROW and reached Bell Rake which was a steepish descent that required care on the stones, made very slippy by the rain.  At the junction of paths SD 435 876, we turned left (south) to walk the concessionary footpath (this one actually marked on the map!) back to between the school and the football pitch, where it rejoined the original path and we turned right back up to the car.

Home at 6.35pm, so back within 12 hours, evening meal, help Liam with his homework, go in the SOTA Chatroom (just G7ADF and me) and bed.

Thanks to the following stations, all worked on 2m FM using 2.5 watts: